Microsoft announces Office 365 cloud-based productivity suite

What do you get when you combine Microsoft Office, SharePoint Online, Exchange Online and Lync Online? According to Microsoft, you get the “next generation in cloud productivity.” The Redmond giant’s much awaited cloud-based Office suite launches today as a limited beta spanning 13 countries. Those lucky enough to sample the offering at this stage will enjoy much of the functionality that makes Microsoft Office the global standard with none of the local software keeping the rest of us tethered to our PCs. Kurt DelBene, president of the Office Division at Microsoft, had this to say:

Office 365 is the best of everything we know about productivity, all in a single cloud service. With Office 365, your local bakery can get enterprise-caliber software and services for the first time, while a multinational pharmaceutical company can reduce costs and more easily stay current with the latest innovations. People can focus on their business, while we and our partners take care of the technology.

Microsoft’s Office 365 site will go live today at 3:00 p.m. EDT, and customers can sign up there to learn more. Microsoft hasn’t announced a firm public release date for Office 365, though it did say that the suite would be generally available in 40 countries next year. Hit the jump for the full press release.

Microsoft Announces Office 365

New cloud service brings together Office, SharePoint, Exchange and Lync for organizations of all sizes.

REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 19, 2010 — Microsoft Corp. today announced Microsoft Office 365, the company’s next generation in cloud productivity that brings together Microsoft Office, SharePoint Online, Exchange Online and Lync Online in an always-up-to-date cloud service. Office 365 makes it easier for millions more organizations to get and use Microsoft’s award-winning business productivity solutions via the cloud. With Office 365, people can work together more easily from anywhere on virtually any device, while collaborating with others inside and outside their organization in a simple and highly secure way. As part of today’s news, Microsoft is also opening a limited beta program for Office 365 in 13 countries and regions.

Office 365 is built on years of experience delivering industry-leading business cloud services ranging from the first browser-based e-mail to today’s Business Productivity Online Suite, Microsoft Office Live Small Business and Live@edu. Moving to the cloud with Office 365 means people don’t have to change the way they work, because Office 365 works with the most popular browsers, smartphones and desktop applications people use today.

“Office 365 is the best of everything we know about productivity, all in a single cloud service,” said Kurt DelBene, president of the Office Division at Microsoft. “With Office 365, your local bakery can get enterprise-caliber software and services for the first time, while a multinational pharmaceutical company can reduce costs and more easily stay current with the latest innovations. People can focus on their business, while we and our partners take care of the technology.”

Microsoft worked closely with existing customers to develop Office 365, resulting in a cloud service that is designed to meet a wide range of customer needs.

With Office 365 for small businesses, professionals and small companies with fewer than 25 employees can be up and running with Office Web Apps, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Lync Online and an external website in just 15 minutes, for $6 or 5.25 euros per user, per month1.

“For a small business, Office 365 is a perfect way to start,” said Rob Nichols, chief technology officer of Allovus Design, a graphic design firm and member of Microsoft’s Customer Advisory Board for Office 365. “It has all the features we need, and we can come out of the gate with the same tools the big guys have — on day one.”

Office 365 for enterprises introduces an array of choices for midsize and large businesses as well as government organizations, starting for as little as $2 or 1.75 euros per user, per month1 for basic e-mail. Office 365 for enterprises also includes the option to get Microsoft Office Professional Plus desktop software on a pay-as-you-go basis, for the first time ever. For $24 or 22.75 euros per user, per month1, organizations can get Office Professional Plus along with e-mail, voicemail, enterprise social networking, instant messaging, Web portals, extranets, voiceconferencing and videoconferencing, webconferencing, 24×7 phone support, on-premises licenses, and more.

Office 365 creates new growth opportunities for Microsoft and its partners by reaching more customers and types of workers and meeting more business IT needs — all while cutting costs for customers.

Product Availability

Office 365 will be available worldwide next year. Starting today, Microsoft will begin testing Office 365 with a few thousand organizations in 13 countries and regions around the world, and the beta will be expanded to include more organizations over time. Office 365 will be generally available in 40 countries and regions next year.

Later next year, Office 365 will expand to include Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online to provide Microsoft’s complete business productivity experience to organizations of all types and sizes. In addition, Office 365 for education will debut later next year, giving students, faculty and school employees powerful technology tailored specifically to their needs.

Today at 12 p.m. PDT, Microsoft will launch http://www.Office365.com. Customers and partners can sign up for the Office 365 beta and learn more at that site, or follow Office 365 on Twitter (@Office365), Facebook (Office 365), or the new Office 365 blog at http://community.office365.com to get the latest information.

How is office bloated? I’ve never used anything faster with all the abilities it has.

or….ohh….you’re just a MS hater. Look beyond company name, at the products they create. Each company makes mistakes – don’t diss EVERYTHING MS makes because they make some things you are not in agreement with or don’t like.

yaya

yea office isn’t bloated. it actually runs pretty damn smooth, even on my netbook. but if they decided not to charge i might have given up my google docs. not so much now…

Tdot34

I think you have Office confused with everything piece of software that comes out of Apple.

Rob Raines

Apple software is bloated too. Try running it on a platform other than MacOS X.

Tdot34

That was the point of my comment, Apple software is the worst bloat-ware on Earth.

bringit

looks like rain.

Black Letter

The office paradigm is shifting toward cloud technology and Microsoft is capitalizing on this growing trend. Open Office and Google Docs should take this as an opportunity to learn.

Steve

Google should learn? Microsoft wouldn’t even be offering this if their hand wasn’t forced by Google intruding into the office space and signing up entire businesses.

MS would *much* rather sell a fat $400 per-user Office license for copying bits then have to pay for an entire server hosting farm with much smaller per-user fees.

yaya

your hate for anything google has blinded you. MS is in fact learning from google.

now if you meant that google should learn from MS and start imposing a monthly fee for their services…well then you should gfy.

Rob Raines

I still think if it were sold as an appliance that I could put in my organizations data center/virtual farm it would really take off.

Dara

I worked at an office that used a cloud implementation of the standard MS enterprise office system. We didn’t need backups or servers on site and all of the business operations were performed through thin clients.

It was nice until it wasn’t.

We were completely out of business at the office for 3 days while the IT company, ISP, and DSL line supplier pointed fingers at each other and everyone worked from home.

It’s all nice to talk about cloud computing, but an adventurous squirrel with a death wish can shut you right down.

yaya

but it’s only a matter of time until MS introduces a unique feature where it temporarily stores all files locally and allows you to work offline in case of an emergency (*cough* google gears *cough*)

http://theplacefordee.com CDeeRON

site is live

http://www.jiffytune.com EntrepreNerd

Who ever is naming these products needs to be shot. I mean, really, Office 365… Really? Hell, they may as well call their mobile OS “Microsoft Windows Phone 7”, oh wait.